“In the last 10 years, since the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (CATSI Act) began, we have seen significant improvements in the standards of corporate governance and management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations.

“In early July I spoke at an event in Darwin to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the CATSI Act and the significant achievements by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations registered under that legislation,” Minister Scullion said.

“At that event I referred to the strong financial performance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations over the last ten years and their extremely low failure rate (0.5 per cent) compared to mainstream entities (0.8 per cent).

“Today I welcome updated evidence of the strength of the Indigenous corporate sector, with a report released by the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations, Anthony Beven, that not a single liquidator, receiver or voluntary administrator was appointed to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation in the 2016–17 financial year. In fact, the last appointment of this nature was in February 2016.

“This is another indication of the strength of the sector and the great work by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations around the country.

“It is also an indicator of the hard work by the Registrar and his office in supporting corporations”

In 2016–17 the Registrar placed only eight corporations into special administration and all completed special administrations resulted in a stronger corporation being handed back to members in an average of just over six months. The power to appoint a special administrator is an early intervention measure in the CATSI Act that allows the Registrar to address issues in a corporation before they lead to failure.

“These statistics also show it has never been a better time to go into business with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander corporation. The Government, through its Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP), has backed Indigenous businesses and 708 have now won more than $407 million in contracts. All corporations registered under the CATSI Act automatically satisfy the requirement for Indigenous control under the IPP,” Minister Scullion said.